Learn From Your Personal Time-Line: Describe key turning points in both your career and personal life, with an eye to what shaped your values, attitudes and behavior; how your career decisions and experiences have affected your personal development. Identify the consequences, both positive and negative. What does this knowledge point you towards, in terms of reclaiming and growing dormant or neglected parts of yourself?
Improvements that stem directly from coaching engagements include: enhanced executive learning, gains in corporate performance, enhanced relationships, increased leadership effectiveness and personal and organizational improvements. In the process, not only do executives improve themselves but substantially have a greater impact on their organization. Benefits to the organization include enhanced individual and organizational performance which positively affect organizational culture. These further provide enhanced reputation within the industry, improved employee morale, and positive work environments, thus greater productivity and enhanced client relationships. Coaching can be your competitive edge!
Motivation, concentration and focus, as well as overall mental health, are considered vital components in a winning athletes training. As the mental component in sport is such an important factor, psychology is assuming an increasingly important role in the field. It’s believed that the difference between a sports person with strong psychological training and a sports person without this could mean the difference between first and second place.
The link between exercise and psychology has long been recognized. In 1899, William James discussed the importance of exercise, writing it was needed to "furnish the background of sanity, serenity...and make us good-humored and easy of approach."[68] Other researchers noted the connection between exercise and depression, concluding a moderate amount of exercise was more helpful than no exercise in symptom improvement.[69] Additionally, meeting exercise requirements can also aid in alleviating symptoms of avoidance disorders and anxiety, while also providing a higher quality of life for the patient in terms of physical health. [70]
Graduate and post-graduate students typically complete advanced coursework in exercise science, kinesiology and clinical psychology. A one-year internship through a program approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) may be an additional requirement for graduation. Continuing education and training is available through several professional organizations, including the APA and the Association for Applied Sport Psychology, once state licensing or certification as a psychologist is obtained.
It has been 48 days and counting without burning a single cigarette, and it is all thanks to Rita Black. The first 2 to 3 days were definitely the hardest, but the freedom and the confidence I gained after I saw her has been far more rewarding. After a single session with her, I am now empowered to be healthy, I took back control of my life and I will continue to do so for years to come. Thank you Rita for helping me want to burn calories and not cigarettes.
10. Positive Images: When your are exercising, use your positive mental images throughout your workout to create feelings of speed and power. (e.g., If you’re walking or running and you come to an unexpected hill visualize a magnet pulling you effortlessly to the top). Use visualization before, during and after your training to build confidence and new motivation.
Hypnosis can be a highly effective form of treatment for many mental, psychosomatic, and physical disorders. Hypnosis is a trance state in which the hypnotized person is in a heightened, more receptive state of mind. During hypnosis, the patient is not unconscious, does not lose control of his or her faculties, and does not do things under hypnosis that he or she would be unwilling to do otherwise.
Motivational climate refers to the situational and environmental factors that influence individuals' goals.[39] The two major types of motivational climates coaches can create are task-oriented and ego-oriented. While winning is the overall goal of sports competitions regardless of the motivational climate, a task-orientation emphasizes building skill, improvement, giving complete effort, and mastering the task at hand (i.e., self-referenced goals), while an ego-orientation emphasizes demonstrating superior ability, competition, and does not promote effort or individual improvement (i.e., other-referenced goals). Effective coaching practices explore the best ways coaches can lead and teach their athletes. For examples, researchers may study the most effective methods for giving feedback, rewarding and reinforcing behavior, communicating, and avoiding self-fulfilling prophecies in their athletes.[40]
We have created the two-year part-time Ashridge Masters in Executive Coaching in response to the emergence of executive coaching as an established and distinct profession within the international field of individual and organizational development. Our aim is to raise the standard of coaching both professionally and ethically. The program draws on theories from complexity science, sociology and psychology to come to a distinct understanding of organizations and hence the role of both coaches and clients.
Across all business sectors and areas of professional practice, workers confront significant transitions. When transitioning into leadership roles, they cannot rely on their old ways of conducting themselves. They must transform their mindset and behavior patterns in order to succeed in the new role. Technical skills and know-how are no longer sufficient. They must also learn to collaborate with C-suite executives, develop novel business opportunities, and inspire their colleagues and direct reports with a well-articulated vision of success.
In 1996, as a result of a three-year research project led by Lindsay B. Yeates, the Australian Hypnotherapists Association[48] (founded in 1949), the oldest hypnotism-oriented professional organization in Australia, instituted a peer-group accreditation system for full-time Australian professional hypnotherapists, the first of its kind in the world, which "accredit[ed] specific individuals on the basis of their actual demonstrated knowledge and clinical performance; instead of approving particular 'courses' or approving particular 'teaching institutions'" (Yeates, 1996, p.iv; 1999, p.xiv).[49] The system was further revised in 1999.[50]
Unlike psychologists or psychotherapists, ADHD coaches do not provide any therapy or treatment: their focus is only on daily functioning and behaviour aspects of the disorder.[12] The ultimate goal of ADHD coaching is to help clients develop an "inner coach", a set of self-regulation and reflective planning skills to deal with daily life challenges.[13] A 2010 study from Wayne State University evaluated the effectiveness of ADHD coaching on 110 students with ADHD. The research team concluded that the coaching "was highly effective in helping students improve executive functioning and related skills as measured by the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory (LASSI)."[14] Yet, not every ADHD person needs a coach and not everyone can benefit from using a coach.[15]
I work with athletes and performers at every level, from novice and recreational to elite and professional, so the situations that I address are constantly evolving, bringing different challenges each day. I may give training to an entire team, meet with an individual client at my office, or observe a client at practice or at a competition. I may speak with their coaches or families; it just depends on what we are trying to accomplish. We work on developing the mental side of their game and performance. This involves building skills in areas such as focus, concentration, motivation, goal-setting, managing intensity, overcoming performance obstacles, stress management, and learning how to perform optimally even under pressure. We also address issues such as performance anxiety, burnout, lack of confidence, recovering from an injury, and handling performance pressures that come when new levels of achievement are attained.
In North America, support for sport psychology grew out of physical education. The North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA) grew from being an interest group to a full-fledged organization, whose mission included promoting the research and teaching of motor behavior and the psychology of sport and exercise. In Canada, the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology (SCAPPS) was founded in 1977 to promote the study and exchange of ideas in the fields of motor behavior and sport psychology.
“You seem like exactly the type of person hypnosis would not work on,” a friend told me when I mentioned I was going to try it, implying I'm too skeptical and set in my ways to be open to something like this. Still, there I was, ready to see what would happen. Hall's voice worked a strange alchemy on me in the library, and I drifted off into what seemed like a state of intense relaxation. I could've fallen asleep easily. I didn't even pull out my phone and refresh Twitter for a whole half hour.
Unintentional weight loss can occur because of an inadequately nutritious diet relative to a person's energy needs (generally called malnutrition). Disease processes, changes in metabolism, hormonal changes, medications or other treatments, disease- or treatment-related dietary changes, or reduced appetite associated with a disease or treatment can also cause unintentional weight loss.[25][26][27][31][32][33] Poor nutrient utilization can lead to weight loss, and can be caused by fistulae in the gastrointestinal tract, diarrhea, drug-nutrient interaction, enzyme depletion and muscle atrophy.[27]
Professionals in this field may favor one proficiency over another, as this field does require a distinctive combination of training in both medicine and psychology. With their in-depth knowledge of physiology and kinesiology, in addition to their psychology training, some sports psychologists may focus on rehabilitation and reintegration of athletes after an injury, while others may focus on mental health issues surrounding coach-player communication conflicts or improving team dynamics.
Coleman Griffith worked as an American professor of educational psychology at the University of Illinois where he first performed comprehensive research and applied sport psychology. He performed causal studies on vision and attention of basketball and soccer players, and was interested in their reaction times, muscular tension and relaxation, and mental awareness.[11] Griffith began his work in 1925 studying the psychology of sport at the University of Illinois funded by the Research in Athletics Laboratory.[12] Until the laboratory's closing in 1932, he conducted research and practiced sport psychology in the field. The laboratory was used for the study of sports psychology; where different factors that influence athletic performance and the physiological and psychological requirements of sport competitions were investigated. He then transmitted his findings to coaches, and helped advance the knowledge of psychology and physiology on sports performance. Griffith also published two major works during this time: The Psychology of Coaching (1926) and The Psychology of Athletics (1928). Coleman Griffith was also the first person to describe the job of sports psychologists and talk about the main tasks that they should be capable of carrying out. He mentioned this in his work “Psychology and its relation to athletic competition”, which was published in 1925.[13] One of the tasks was to teach the younger and unskilled coaches the psychological principles that were used by the more successful and experienced coaches. The other task was to adapt psychological knowledge to sport, and the last task was to use the scientific method and the laboratory for the purpose of discovering new facts and principles that can aid other professionals in the domain.
According to Dr. Ken Grossman, a clinical hypnotherapist in Sacramento, “The only quality that makes someone a good candidate for hypnosis is that they want to stop. What makes someone a poor candidate is that they have no desire to stop.” McGrail agrees, adding, “There are very few people that will not allow themselves to be led into a hypnotic state.” While this may sound far-fetched to skeptics, think of it as the sort of state you’re in when you’re driving and miss your exit — that’s a mild form of hypnosis in and of itself. What these therapists do is just deepen the experience, using our natural capacity for dropping into trance-like states.
Consultation and training. Team building; sports organization consultation; systems interventions with parents and families involved in youth sports participation; education of coaches regarding motivation, interpersonal and leadership skills and talent development; education of coaches and administrators regarding early identification and prevention of psychological difficulties.
Although this book is fascinating, without the guidance of a live instructor it cannot really be used as a practical learning tool. Although it seems there is almost nothing Dave Elman can't handle successfully with hypnosis, the reader may be left feeling a bit inadequate, as his physician students often did, when trying to duplicate his efforts. Obviously there is a lot to be said for intuitive skill in this area.
We’ve had the privilege of partnering with the following organizations to significantly impact their performance, culture and bottom-line results. While some of these corporations have directly hired us to work in an executive coaching or training capacity, others represent corporations in which one or more senior executives or partner-level leaders have hired us independently.
Well, like most smokers you almost certainly have much more of a psychological dependence on smoking than a physical one. Over time, the psychological habits relating to smoking become thoroughly ingrained at a subconscious level. Smoking cessation products such as pills, patches and gum can provide relief from the physical side-effects of nicotine withdrawal, but they do not address the psychological issues that prevent or discourage people from quitting.

Needless to say, effective leadership must also include necessary skills, vision and perspectives. For example, sustainable practices for long-term success, as business executive and sustainability thought-leader John Friedman regularly writes about, here. Another is the movement towards joining business success with addressing social needs, as Richard Branson has described, where “taking care of people and the planet are at the very core of all businesses everywhere in the world.” Adding that our current world of transparency and social media demands that “business reinvents itself and becomes a force for good in the world,” he’s leading a new effort in that direction, called The B Team.

I might be biased, but I do believe that the best sport psychology candidates are those who have partaken in an elite sport or performance domain (like competitive dance or professional music). I am a firm believer in the sport psychology consultant using their as-lived, phenomenological experience from their own sporting experience to really relate to and provide hands-on tools to the athlete. Kind of like a ‘been-there-done-that’ phenomenon: the consultant has already been there themselves, so they have a better understanding of what tool will make the difference with the athlete/high performer. This is not to say that you have to have been an elite athlete/performer to be an expert sport psychologist, I just happen to think those that have competed in an elite sport or its equivalent have a leg up.
Today, sport and exercise psychologists have begun to research and provide information in the ways that psychological well-being and vigorous physical activity are related. This idea of psychophysiology, monitoring brain activity during exercise has aided in this research. Also, sport psychologists are beginning to consider exercise to be a therapeutic addition to healthy mental adjustment.
Rita is the real deal. First, you have to believe it is going to work... then you go see Rita and she will make your dreams come true. I saw Rita for smoking... I had smoked on and off socially since college. Then I picked up the nasty habit full time because all my co-workers were doing it and I thought it relieved stress. Here I was... a 30 year old woman smoking 2-3 packs a week and buying cigarettes when I really shouldn't have been spending my money that way. Not long after I couldn't breath, was hacking up my lungs, and embarrassed of the smell and reputation of being a "smoker"... I tried to quit and after many unsuccessful attempts I thought about hypnosis. It was almost comical but I was willing to do anything to stop this nasty addiction. I found Rita through Yelp and saw her reviews, I was desperate and ready to make a change. The session was 1.5 hours, concise and relaxing. Hypnotism is interesting - its like a nice, comfortable nap but you hear everything and when you wake up you're a changed person. I would give Rita 50 stars if I could..... Her prices are fair. Period. Would you rather spend more money on cigarettes and lifetime of unnecessary medical bills or one flat fee and be smoke free for the rest of your life? Smoking is not attractive and has absolutely zero health benefits.... Smoking is a financial burden. I don't have to tell you this though, if you're reading this you already know. I am smoke free for over a year now and have had zero to desire to smoke since seeing Rita. She's a lovely angel who is truly gifted. Go to her now.... Seriously, call her right now and set up an appointment. You will not regret it. P.S. Works for marijuana too. For all you LA stoners who want to cease and desist of your MJ cravings.... here you go. Thank me later.
The third element is suggestibility. The person becomes more responsive to suggestions given to him or her. Fourth is what he calls “involuntariness.” That means when you come out of hypnosis, you feel subjectively like you haven't done anything, but that something has been done to you. You may recognize that you're being told to lift you arm, for example, but you feel as if it is being lifted by some external force. Which makes sense, since when I reach for a cigarette, especially when I know I don't need it, I’m being governed by similar subconscious impulses.
Garvin was under the gun during this difficult time, so he skipped the usual steps and sought the services of an executive coach on his own. He picked someone he knew well: Karl Nelson, whom Garvin had worked with at a major consulting firm when they were both starting their careers as freshly minted MBAs. Garvin thought he could trust Nelson to help manage his COO’s anger and to mentor him through the storm. He also liked the sound of Nelson’s coaching approach. It was based on a profiling system that diagnosed managers’ strengths and weaknesses and charted career tracks that would optimize individual managers’ productivity. This system was similar to the Myers-Briggs inventory, with many of psychologist Abraham Maslow’s self-actualization principles thrown in. Garvin believed that Nelson and his system could help the COO.
Skill commonly used for enhancing motivation, focusing attention on the aspects of performance that are most in need of improvement, or facilitating rehabilitation from injury. The establishment of a goal-setting program often includes several common components, including: emphasis on skill development (not the outcome, such as winning), identifying target dates for attaining goals, identifying goal achievement strategies, and providing regular goal evaluation.
To investigate the effectiveness of cognitive hypnotherapy (CH), hypnosis combined with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), on depression, 84 depressives were randomly assigned to 16 weeks of treatment of either CH or CBT alone. At the end of treatment, patients from both groups significantly improved compared to baseline scores. However, the CH group produced significantly larger changes in Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory, and Beck Hopelessness Scale. Effect size calculations showed that the CH group produced 6%, 5%, and 8% greater reduction in depression, anxiety, and hopelessness, respectively, over and above the CBT group. The effect size was maintained at 6-month and 12-month follow-ups. This study represents the first controlled comparison of hypnotherapy with a well-established psychotherapy for depression, meeting the APA criteria for a "probably efficacious" treatment for depression.
During your first session, you will likely begin by telling the therapist about your goals and issues. You will then work together to come up with a treatment plan. Once you enter a state of hypnosis, your body will feel calm and relaxed, even as you enter a state of increased awareness, similar to the way you might feel when meditating. Your therapist will speak to you in a calm and gently assertive voice, and place the suggestions you agreed to in your treatment plan into your subconscious mind.